Liv is throwing a surprise birthday party for her new too-perfect-to-be-true fiancé, Christoph. The party must be flawless so their friends can see how happy she is; or so that’s what she tells herself as the guilt from sleeping with her best friend Nate on the night of her engagement grows stronger. Commitment-phobe Nate should probably just add the one night tryst with best friend Liv to his long list of conquests. That’s his normal M.O; But, as the big party nears, Nate questions his “no-strings” mantra and comes clean with Liv, making an all-out effort for her affections.

Matthew WattsMatthew received his MFA in Film from Columbia University in October 2008.

His thesis film short film Christopher Dispossessed played at dozens of festivals including the Woodstock Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival and winning the Golden Starfish Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

Since 2004, Matthew has directed and produced seven short films and numerous videos and commercials.

In Fall 2008, he was featured in Shots Magazine’s New Director’s Showcase. Matthew has also produced over fifty hours of television programming such as The First 48 on A&E, Swamp People on History Channel and The Shift on Investigative Discovery.

His company, Firebrand Films, is developing several films, including The Interloper, based on Antoine Wilson’s novel and A Family Game by Barry Brodsky. Mutual Friends is his first feature film.

PRECEDED BY SHORT FILM

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ROBERT LEAVES THE ROOMU.S.A., 2011, 18 mins, Color (Language)

MICHIGAN PREMIEREDirector: Zack Godshall

Robert, a disgruntled writer, takes out his frustration on a group of young actors.

Zack Godshall lives in South Louisiana and makes fiction and documentary films. His feature films include LOW AND BEHOLD (Sundance 2007), GOD’S ARCHITECTS (currently on the Documentary Channel), LORD BYRON (Sundance 2011, NY Times Critics’ Pick), and the forthcoming documentary WATER LIKE STONE. In the past year, Zack has also completed two short films: A MAN WITHOUT WORDS (a documentary collaboration with Susan Schaller and Arturo Reyes) and WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ROBERT LEAVES THE ROOM (co-written with his sister Jana). Born in Arkansas and raised in Louisiana, Zack studied literature and photography at Louisiana State University before earning an MFA in film directing at UCLA. He is currently the Filmmaker-in-Residence at Louisiana State University.